Cam Kuhl recently committed to SUNY-Plattsburgh. He spent the last two years playing for the NAHL and also has BCHL and USPHL experience. Neutral Zone caught up with Kuhl to ask about the recruiting process, his youth hockey experience and more.
Neutral Zone: How and when did you start playing hockey?
Cam Kuhl: My dad was a hockey instructor so I was around it from a young age. I first put on the skates at four years old.
NZ: What’s your earliest memory from playing hockey?
CK: I remember playing at the Can/Am tournament in Lake Placid on the 1980 Olympic rink and you just get a special feeling playing on that ice.
NZ: What was your youth hockey experience like?
CK: My youth hockey experience was awesome. I learned so many of my core values as a person and a player in those years of my life.
NZ: How did you end up with the PAL Junior Islanders?
CK: It was an early jump into junior hockey for me but I felt like I was ready to make the next step to juniors and had two great seasons with PAL.
NZ: How did you go from there to the BCHL and eventually to the NAHL?
CK: After two seasons at PAL I felt like the BCHL was a great league to make the next step to college hockey and enjoyed my time in Port Alberni a lot. The following season there was a new coaching staff in Port and things did not work out with them. Shortly after I got a call from Joe Clark with Topeka and played there until the trade deadline when I got traded to New Jersey for a playoff push.
NZ: Take us through the NCAA recruitment process. What other schools were you talking to and where did you visit?
CK: The recruitment process really heated up for me after the NAHL Showcase. After that, I had communication with a handful of DIII schools and was talking with them throughout the season, but nothing truly felt right for me. Then In February, Plattsburgh came to watch me play and I went up for a visit and fell in love with the school. I grew up watching some games there so I knew how much they love their hockey up there.
NZ: What made you decide to commit to SUNY-Plattsburgh?
CK: I’ve known that I want to major in business and Plattsburgh just built a brand new school of business. The classrooms are super modern and I could see myself taking classes there. Their hockey program is always a top team in the division and I feel like I could fit in great to try and make a run at a championship. From a family perspective, they are pumped that I’ll only be two hours away from home so they can come watch me play.
NZ: What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen while playing hockey?
CK: The strangest thing I’ve ever seen was in squirts. It was the second game against a team in a weekend and the goalie showed up late to the game so the coach sat him for the entire first period and played with six players.
NZ: What are your best on-ice skills?
CK: I’d say my best on ice skill would be making a good first pass or my ability to play the body.
NZ: What aspect of your game are you working on improving the most?
CK: I’m currently trying to improve my puck handling at high speed.
NZ: Who’s been the biggest influence in your hockey career?
CK: The biggest influence on my hockey career would be my dad, but he’s also been my coach and instructor since I was on skates.
NZ: What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced in hockey?
CK: I think the biggest challenge I’ve faced in my hockey career would be convincing coaches to take a chance on me because I’m not a flashy player.
NZ: What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced in life?
CK: Toughest challenge in life for me has been trying to find the lessons to learn when something doesn’t go as planned.
Photo credit: Hickling Images
